Empty Chairs and Empty Tables
by silversneverbeenbetter
Summary: After the war, Ron reflects about the loss of his family and friends. One-shot. R&R please.


Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, but my bat mitzvah is coming up, and I'm really hoping for all copyrights to Fred and George Weasley. wink

Summary- After the war, Ron reflects upon his family and friends that died fighting for what they believed in. (To the song Empty Chairs and Empty Tables from Les Misrables.)

**Empty Chairs and Empty Tables**

**Written by: Silversneverbeenbetter (Cassy)**

It hadn't been the same in months. Although the war was now over, the losses of those who had died still lingered within the people who survived. In this case…it was Ron Weasley.

Sitting inside a bar, known as Three Broomsticks, twenty six year old Ronald Weasley paused for a moment and looked up from his butter beer. He had grown his hair out, and it was shaggy, but had light blonde areas sticking around the fiery red hair he once had. His green eyes were pale, and black lines dropped from under his eyes. His face was beet red, as if he had been crying lately.

And the truth was: He had been crying. He usually cried everyday since the war was over. He was happy that Voldemort's power had come to an end, but he cried for everyone he lost. The death total was higher then five hundred in just one battle: The battle which Voldemort's power came to a close.

The thoughts flashed before his eyes, bringing memories of his friends and himself, all having a great time at Hogwarts. It was him, Hermione, and Ginny, all sitting under a tree, watching Luna, Dean, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati goof around by the lake. Harry was at Quidditch practice with Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and the others.

He smiled slightly; his first smile in weeks. Thinking about them brought back to many memories.

"_There's a grief that can't be spoken.  
There's a pain goes on and on.  
Empty chairs at empty tables,  
now my friends are dead and gone."_

Sadly, those good days were brought to an end of the night of March 31st. The death eaters versed the aurors and anyone who was willing to fight, but the most important was Harry versus Voldemort.

Another memory flashed before his eyes, of everyone getting ready. They were at the burrow, well, at least his friends and family were.

"To us," Fred yelled as he raised his wand, along with everyone in the burrow. "Either we win, or we go down knowing we fought our best!" George called to the crowd of about fifty, who cheered. Ginny and Ron were near the back, as his little sister turned towards Ron.

"Ron, if something should happen to mom and dad…what will we do?" The twenty four year old asked as Ron touched her cheek. "We'll go on without them, Gin. But right now you just have to worry for yourself."

"And my husband," She said, looking over at Harry with a sigh, who was whispering quietly among some of his fellow aurors. "Ron," She asked, looking back at him. "If something should happen to me…will you promise to take care of Harry for me? You're his best friend," She pleaded as he nodded. 'Of course." He whispered, and the two embraced for the last time. "I love you, Ron," Ginny whispered, planting a small kiss on his cheek,.

Ron paused for a minute and put his hand up to his cheek, right where his sister had kissed him. Her words still haunted him. _'If something should happen,'_ was all that went through his head at that moment.

"_Here they talked of revolution.  
Here it was they lit the flame.  
Here they sang about tomorrow',  
and tomorrow never came."_

His mind then went racing back to the fight that took his family's life, except for two people. Fred had been critically injured, but was released from St. Mungos a month after the fight. Charlie hadn't been able to make it, for he had been stuck in Romania, but when word of his family's passing came to him, he was there in a heartbeat.

He remembered falling to the ground, hearing a scream, and who knew it belonged to then and there. His eyes opened wide as he jumped up.

"Ginny!" He yelled, tears falling down his face as he raced to where he had heard of the scream. He remembered stopping, seeing the limp figure of his little sister on the ground, blood smeared across her whole body. Her eyes were half open, her hazel eyes completely pale, and her wand still in her now open hand.

Ron had dropped to his knees, tears falling onto his sister. "No…Ginny." He whispered, and closed his eyes. He took her wand and put it in his pocket, then stumbled off into the night to help fight.

At this time, he reached into his cloak pocket and grabbed a wooden wand, and he smiled. It was his sister's wand…which she held onto while she passed.

He remembered his own scream while he watched the rest of his family drop to the ground. His friends, too, fell before him, including his girlfriend of several years: Hermione Jane Granger.

Tears streamed down his face as the bar tender started to close everything up. He could have saved Hermione…he knew it. But he hadn't, and now she was gone.

"_From the table in the corner;  
They could see a world reborn,  
And they rose with voices ringing  
I can hear them now!  
The very words that they had sung  
became their last communion  
on the lonely barricade at dawn._

_Oh my friends, my friends forgive me!"_

He stared at the ground as he remembered Harry fighting Voldemort, and how the dark Lord dropped to the ground and Harry to his knees. Ron had ran over and grabbed onto his now-fainted friend, crying into his shoulder.

Ron remembered being in St. Mungos, and how Charlie had rushed through the door, his eyes red and puffy. He spotted Ron and slowly came over.

"Ron?" He had whispered and his little brother looked up, crying out. "Oh, Charlie," He sobbed and hugged his brother, crying into his shoulder now. "They're dead, Charlie; everyone. Dad, Mom, Percy, Bill, George, Ginny…" He cried as Charlie had him sit down.

"What about Fred? Is he alright?" He asked worriedly. Ron sighed. "He should be fine," He whispered, but couldn't stop himself from crying.

So many of his friends and family were dead, and just to name now even a quarter of them: Ginny, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Bill, Parvati, Luna, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Hannah, Angelina, Alicia, Oliver, and many more were counting upon the lists on the Mt. Mungos wall.

For all he knew, he and Harry were the only ones he knew survived.

"_That I live and you are gone.  
There's a grief that can't be spoken.  
There's a pain goes on and on."_

After leaving Three Broomsticks, Ron smiled to himself as he aparated himself to the burrow, where he was now residing with Harry and Lavender. They decided it would be best if they all 'stuck together' for a while.

He sat on the couch, memories flashing through his mind, mostly of his family and how they would just sit there on this couch and talk. He remembered one conversation in particular…

Everyone was seated there, and Ginny and Harry were standing, both looking nervous. "Um…guys, me and Harry have something to tell you," Ginny said as he gripped her hand. Fred and George, being the over-protective siblings, growled. "If you got her pregnant…"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Quit being perverts, Forge and Gred!" She yelled at them as Harry laughed, and that's when Ron noticed the small, diamond ring on the ring finger.

"Harry…" He said quietly. "Are you and Ginny getting…"

"-married!" Ginny finished the sentence, smiling widely as the whole family's jaws fell to the ground. They had only been dating for two years, and now they were getting married?

Ron smiled to himself. Even though he nearly killed Harry for getting engaged to his sister, he was terribly happy on the inside. And even now, Harry still wore the wedding band on his finger; one that matched his wife's.

"Ron? Ron, are you back yet?" There was a small sound as Lavender stepped through the door, looking worried. Her long, brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her sea green eyes were sparkling lightly. She wore a tank top (baby blue) and jeans, and was barefoot which was showing her newly painted nails.

"I'm fine, Lavender," He said with a smile as she nodded slowly and walked off.

"_Phantom faces at the window.  
Phantom shadows on the floor.  
Empty chairs at empty tables  
Where my friends will meet no more."_

Looking out the window, Ron sighed. "Why was it that while you guys died, that I lived? What did I do to make this happen?" He asked quietly, and outside saw a bright sunny day, and his sister playing around with Luna the summer before their fifth year. Fred and George were under a tree, trying out their new experiments. Harry, Hermione and himself were watching from another window, laughing.

"They look like they're having fun, don't they?" Hermione asked, watching Luna and Ginny giggle and run around as Harry sighed. "Yeah…they do." He said quietly, as Ron smiled and watched this. Soon, they disappeared and Ron sat down.

"Let me know that you're alright, Ginny," He said, looking up into the sky. "Give me a sign. Give me something so I know you're watching over me."

Ginny had been his favorite sibling of all time, and he loved the way she would blush when she did something wrong, or when she would giggle when it wasn't even funny. He loved her for who she was… but now she was gone, and all he had was her memory.

"_Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me,  
What your sacrifice was for  
Empty chairs at empty tables,  
Where my friends will sing no more."_

He stood up and walked to the door, opening it, expecting to see the moon like he always did at this time. But, instead, he was a small, eerie figure sitting under a tree. Blinking, he squinted to see the figure, and it looked just like...

"Ron," A voice called out from the figure, and he stopped. "I'm happy now," The figure whispered, but it had a slight tone his sister used. "There's no need to worry. I'll always be your little sister and I'll always look over you like you did for me." The figure jumped up, starting to float away.

"Please tell Harry I love him," It whispered, then disappeared. Ron smiled in happiness and yelled into the sky. "Thank you! Thank you so very much!" With that, he ran inside. He needed to tell Lavender and Harry about this…


End file.
